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How Criminals are Getting Your Debit Card Data in 2015

Thu, Jul 30, 2015

Columbia, Maryland

Criminals are more organized and sophisticated than ever before. Attacks on ATMs and POS terminals can range from the rudimentary to the highly organized, involving thousands of fraudulent cards and criminal enterprises that span the globe.

So, how do criminals get your customers' debit card data? Here are 8 different ways:

Data breaches - According to the United States Secret Service, 1000 U.S. businesses have been affected by Malware. Capable hackers are able to crack the security on merchants and other card data holders, and access large volumes of card data. With the heightened awareness of cybercrime, the industry has made strides in using more secure techniques for storing data (or in many cases, ensuring that they don't store it). This has made it harder for criminals, but there are still many opportunities for attacks.

Buying the data - With so many means of attack, there is a glut of card information for sale on underground carding websites. Lazy criminals can simply buy card data starting at $2 or less. Quality costs extra, but in the underground marketplace there are products for everyone.